Coimbatore: Botanical Garden entry fee dearer, vendors feel pinch

COIMBATORE: A sharp drop in tourist arrivals at the Government Botanical Garden (GBG), apparently after an increase in its entry ticket fee, has affected the business of hundreds of temporary shops put up on streets and nearby commercial establishments.

With tourist footfalls continuing to be low for the second season which is under way, the shopkeepers and tourists have now made a fervent appeal to the State government to reduce the hiked entry fee for GBG.

It was during the flower show in May, last year; the entry ticket was hiked to an all-time high of Rs 150 for adults and Rs 75 for children. After facing backlash, the fare was reduced to Rs 125, while it remained unchanged at Rs 75 for children. After the end of the flower show, the visitors were charged Rs 100 for adults and Rs 50 for children as against the usual fare of Rs 50 for adults and Rs 30 for children.

Despite persistent demands by stakeholders of the tourism sector, there seems to be no remedy as the State government has failed to reduce the entry fee.

Because of the high entry fare, the visitors, especially students on group tours from educational institutions, tend to turn away without visiting the park.

“A month ago, around 150 students of a private college from Trichy, who arrived in three tempo travellers to GBG, had left without entering the garden knowing the high cost of entry ticket. They turned away as it would have cost them a total of Rs 15,000 for entry tickets alone. Instead, the students visited the ‘Karnataka Garden’, (maintained by the Karnataka government) which is equally good in a sprawling area. There, the vehicle parking is also free. But, in GBG, it costs a bomb as tourists have to shell out Rs 80 for a car, Rs 150 for a van and Rs 200 for a bus,” said P Asif, president of the Government Botanical Garden Small Businesses Association.

When he took up selling spices on the pavement near the garden as a ten-year-old boy nearly four decades ago, the entry ticket to GBG was a meagre 25 paise per person. Having spent 38 years in the same business, Asif, who is now 48 years old, has taken up catering as an alternative job due to a slowdown in business.

Like him, there are around 120 traders, who eke out a living by selling flowers, sweaters, caps and other things in push-karts, and baskets along roadsides to tourists. There are also shops in complexes and a large number of Tibetans selling dress items.

Till 15 years ago, students were given a concession of 50 per cent from the entry fee of Rs 30, while students from government institutions and also physically challenged were allowed for free.

“By the time teachers get involved in the process of applying for concessions to enter the park, the students used to buy snacks and other things while waiting for around 15 to 30 minutes. However, this concession facility was cancelled around the year 2011. Also, the cost of entry tickets has increased substantially,” said Basheer, another shopkeeper.

Because of the high entry ticket, the GBG which used to be a must-to-be-seen destination is now given a miss by tourists.

“Many of the domestic tourists and even those from neighbouring districts have started to skip GBG. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, I used to make business for up to Rs 8,000 per day during the peak season. But now, the business has become drastically dull as earning even Rs 800 per day has become a difficult task. Almost 30 per cent of traders, who put up shops along the roadside have gone for other jobs,” said Asif.

In addition, the shopkeepers attributed the implementation of e-pass to have taken a toll on their business. Similarly, in both Rose Garden and Sims Park, the entry ticket was hiked from Rs 50 to Rs 75, while for children up to ten years, the fare has been increased from Rs 20 to Rs 40.

“Only the government could decide on reducing the cost of entry tickets. Perhaps, it seems to be under consideration following representations by multiple stakeholders of the tourism sector. Because of the hike in entry fees, more revenue was generated despite a dip in tourist arrivals. It was a manageable crowd this season, unlike in the past, when traffic snarls would be a norm on arterial roads,” said an official of the horticulture department.

Tourist inflow to Ooty dips this year

Even as the State machinery is taking all-out measures to boost the tourism sector all over Tamil Nadu, tourist arrivals have dipped drastically in the popular hill retreat of Ooty.

“Till 10 October from January this year, the overall tourist arrivals have come down by over 3.13 lakh visitors. Only 18, 92,226 tourists have visited the hills from January to 10 October, this year as against 22, 05,363 tourists during the same corresponding period last year,” said authorities of the horticulture department.

Similarly, during the peak season in April and May, a total of 888,529 visitors came to GBG last year as against much lower 799,762 tourists this year. This trend seems to be continuing for the ongoing second tourist season too as arrivals have dropped by 52,649 tourists.

The second tourist season, which commenced in September, will go on till October. A total of 189,669 tourists have turned out till 10 October for the second season as against 242,318 tourists last year. Despite the poor arrival of tourists, the revenue generated through ticket sales has gone up significantly following an increase in ticket charges.

While over 11.50 crore was generated as revenue through ticket sales till 10 October last year, this amount rose heavily to over 13.87 crore during the same period, this year. With this, the GBG has generated 2.37 crore of higher revenue this year despite reduced footfalls.

Besides hiked entry fees, the e-pass system has had its share of impact on tourist arrivals. Since the implementation of the e-pass system over 2.75 lakh vehicles have received the e-pass till 30 September. And, around 13 lakh people have visited the Nilgiris with e-pass until then, said district administration authorities.

For the second season, Inca marigolds, French marigolds, asters, verbenas, lupines, calendulas, poppies, liliums, ageratums, chrysanthemums, helichrysums, saponarias and petunias were among the 60 varieties of flowering plants in full bloom in GBG. They were sourced from various parts of the country like Kolkata, Kashmir, Punjab, and Pune. A total of five lakh saplings were raised in the garden. Similarly, 15,000 potted plants in 30 varieties including salvias, daisies, delphiniums, dahlias, and anthuriums have adorned the gallery.

The district attracts an average of 30 lakh tourists every year, of which more than 10 lakh people visit the hills in the peak season of April and May.

For this second season, which started in September, tourist arrivals are good during the weekends, when around 2,000 to 4,000 people visit Ooty.

“The crowd turnout was even better during the puja holidays. Yet, the overall scenario is not as encouraging as tourist arrivals remain low as compared to previous years, because of the e-pass system and due to an increase in entry ticket fee,” said an official of the horticulture department.